He may have been back in a Crystal Palace shirt this week, but there is no timescale as to when Connor Wickham will be back among the first team.

Following a long injury lay-off, the former Sunderland striker made a welcome return on Tuesday, playing 20 minutes as a substitute for the Eagles' U23 side as they ran out 4-0 winners against Cardiff City at Selhurst Park.

It was his first appearance since sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury at Swansea City in November 2016, with Wickham enduring around 16 months on the sidelines.

Connor Wickham of Crystal Palace leaves the stadium on crutches during the Premier League match between Swansea City and Crystal Palace at Liberty Stadium on November 26, 2016 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

And Palace boss Roy Hodgson said it was great to see him back playing again, with the manager praising his attitude and determination during his recovery from the long-term injury.

Hodgson said: "He's done very well, hasn't he?

"He's been so determined to try and get back on that pitch for a long period of time, so much so that occasionally he's pushed himself a little bit too hard, and has picked up soft-tissue injuries, and that's set him back a little bit.

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"We're trying to be as careful and as sensible with him as we possibly can, and we're asking him to be sensible too, and not to run before he can walk, but he has had at least 20 minutes of Under-23 football."

However, Hodgson says there is currently no timescale for when he could be expected to feature for the first team again, with Palace keen to avoid any further setbacks in his recovery process.

"We have another [U23] match [against Hull City] on Monday, I think he'll play longer then, and all we can hope for then is that we don’t get any reaction from the knee, and also from other muscle injuries, because that's what happens when you're out of football for a long time," he said.

(Photo by Nigel Roddis/Getty Images)

"When you come back, it's often not the injury itself that's kept you out, which flares up again, it's something else, because your body's not used to the workload.

"We're pleased to see him back. How long it will take before he's knocking on the first-team door, I wouldn’t want to put a time on it."